ERIC Number: EJ1456387
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025
Pages: 20
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0256-8543
EISSN: EISSN-2150-2641
Drawings Tell the Difference: Student Characteristics and Student-Teacher Relationships in a Cross-Cultural Context
Mengdi Chen; Marjolein Zee; Debora L. Roorda
Journal of Research in Childhood Education, v39 n1 p98-117 2025
Student-teacher relationship drawings were employed to investigate how students' mental representations of student-teacher relationships were affected by their gender, age, and shyness across the Netherlands and China. The sample included 752 third- to sixth-graders (48.5% boys; M[subscript age] = 9.96) from the Netherlands and 574 third- to sixth-graders (53.7% boys; M[subscript age] = 11.48) from China. Students' drawings were double-coded on eight relationship dimensions. Multiple group models showed that Chinese students' drawings scored lower on anger/tension, role reversal, emotional distance/isolation, and global pathology but higher on vulnerability than those of Dutch students. Boys' drawings displayed higher global pathology than girls' drawings and this difference was larger in the Netherlands than in China. Other associations between student characteristics (gender, age, shyness) and drawing dimensions were equally strong across countries. As an implication, findings from Western countries may not necessarily generalize to students and teachers in Eastern countries. Drawing may be a promising method to further understand differences and similarities in the formation of student-teacher relationships across countries.
Descriptors: Teacher Student Relationship, Freehand Drawing, Student Characteristics, Gender Differences, Age Differences, Cultural Differences, Shyness, Grade 3, Grade 4, Grade 5, Grade 6, Foreign Countries
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Early Childhood Education; Elementary Education; Grade 3; Primary Education; Grade 4; Intermediate Grades; Grade 5; Middle Schools; Grade 6
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Netherlands; China
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A